The DSP Architecture Reference Group (DARG) meeting is scheduled to be held in Melbourne on 17 July 2025.
Participation is available to those Digital service providers listed as DARG members for the 2025–26 year.
Key outcomes
Summary
Below is a summary of key outcomes. Note: the full key messages and artefacts are available on the DSP Hub.
Landscape overview
Tax Time 2025 volume statistics through wholesale channels
Tax Time operations ran smoothly in 2025, with Digital Service Providers (DSPs) reporting fewer error returns. This improvement is largely due to a mainframe upgrade and strong capacity planning. Tax Time 2025 statistics for Wholesale channels were provided for the period 30 June to 14 July.
SBR2 Financial year volume comparison
The last 5 years has seen steady volume growth, including a strong uplift in Single Request Processing (SRP). Outbound traffic has reduced ahead of the Small Business Clearing House closure in 2026.
Reflections from the DSP Strategic Working Group (SWG)
Key topics from the 26 June 2025 SWG included insights from the Tax 3.0 Digital Think Tank, an overview of the Small Business Future Tax Administration Blueprint and Roadmap, and a summary of the Wholesale Vulnerability Assessment.
The ATO and Industry representatives reflected on shared goals, the evolving digital landscape and the critical role DSPs play in both national and global government ecosystems.
The eight priority topics identified at the 2 April SWG to inform future strategic direction were presented for member consideration.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be brought to the DARG for architectural and systems consideration once the ATO has an established position.
Dashboard monitoring – status update
Plans have commenced to improve dashboard monitoring functionality, aiming to provide real-time visibility of ATO system issues and resolution timeframes.
Cyber security update & Implementation of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3
TLS 1.3 has been enabled, with progress underway to fully transition by December 2025, including the decommissioning of TLS 1.2 and disabling of weak ciphers.
Delivery insights and future program
An overview of current initiatives was provided, including:
- implementation of a global and domestic minimum tax (OECD Pillar 2) and the early adoption of reporting requirements – production will be ready for March 2026, with lodgments due 30 June 2026
- better Targeted Super Concessions – currently government policy, pending legislation
- modernisation of Tax Administration Systems – label changes set for Tax Time 2026
- Housing Build to Rent – the Annual Investment Income Report (AIIR) will be updated to include Managed Investment Trust distribution data.
Changes are being made to Fund Validation Service and SuperStream contributions to address common errors and improve the speed and integrity of data and payments through the system. The new versions will be ready in 2026, and the current versions will be deprecated.
Digital Services Gateway (DSG) future roadmap
The DSG future roadmap outlined delivery timeframes and proposed APIs. The shift is toward smaller, scalable, and interoperable services to enhance flexibility and user experience.
Establishing principles for API product design and reusability
An API-first strategy continues to be the main priority, with design taking a consumer focused approach in creating APIs that take 5 seconds to find, 5 minutes to understand, and 5 days to build.
As internal APIs become ready for external use, increasing importance is placed on discoverability, documentation, and a clearly defined roadmap. Forms and spreadsheets will be replaced with a resource-based approach which also supports the principles of Tax 3.0.
Small change prioritisation
The ATO is looking to understand DSP preferences to help guide prioritisation of small change items. These items are low-complexity, discretionary enhancements that improve existing systems or processes without significant risk or rework.
Improvements based on tickets raised by DSPs are listed on the DSP Hub Enhancement Register.
ATO guidance on SRP and BBRP usage and error handling
Batch or Bulk Processing (BBRP) complexities were discussed, including how a single error can block a complete batch from processing. Some DSPs prefer using SRP, mainly due to its instant results and ease of use.
Clarification will be provided on polling guidelines, rates, batch submission guidance, timing, and retry protocols.
Small business future tax administration
Rules as Code sandpit proof of concept (PoC)
The ATO is testing the feasibility of delivering ATO rules into business accounting software via API to understand if tax guidance can be applied consistently and within Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) guidelines.
Collaboration began on 16 June 2025, with development and testing scheduled for completion by 30 September 2025. Evaluation will follow to assess feasibility and future potential.
Pre-fill enhancements for sole traders/self-employed
The ATO is focused on increasing the use of third-party business data to pre-fill income tax returns, aiming to improve accuracy and support compliance. Changes expected for Tax Time 2026 include: reason codes for excluding pre-fill income amounts, and reducing manual data entry where possible.
Future direction of technology
An open discussion explored emerging global trends and technologies relevant to the DARG forum. In focus was Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a growing need to define its capabilities, appearance, and appropriate use. Members highlighted the importance of researching successful AI applications in other industries and understanding the level of human intervention involved.
Discussion also covered Unique Product IDs, with guiding principles to be presented at the next DARG meeting. Key considerations include using product IDs as a compliance mark, assigning distinct IDs per service and ensuring there is a consistent approach across all entity types.
Other business
The DSP Landscape Report will be published on the DSP Hub once finalised.
Next meeting: Wednesday, 19 November in Wharf St, Brisbane.
If you have any questions, contact the secretariat by email at DPO@ato.gov.au or raise a ticket through the DSP service desk.
No previous versions available.